This review may contain spoilers
Little Gem
I watched this series on Viki, in the edited 12-episode-format.
Some people have mentioned that it's obviously low-budget -- but I think if the story and the story-telling is good, things like this don't matter much. And the story-telling is excellent!
First, the series is set both in our present and in the past (or maybe dreams) -- and they are beautifully interwoven. I loved how smoothly the transitions between both worlds are done.
There are five sub-plots (or rather short stories) about friendship, familial love, romantic love -- about loss, letting go, sacrifice, and healing. These are cleverly tied together by the "Demon Bar", a place where demons meet, and destiny brings customers to ... well, to what? To dream? To tell their story? To relive past lives?
What is real, what is a dream -- this is never quite clear; and in the moment when the sommelier (the demon hunter?) maybe grasps an important part of the truth -- the series is over.
I wouldn't even be sad if there's never going to be a second season, this ending is kind of perfect.
Throughout all of these sub-stories, we also follow the friendship (and it can't be more, it's from China) of the demon hunter and the dragon. The former gets some backstory and also some character development; the latter unfortunately not. Maybe he is supposed to remain shrouded in mystery.
On a personal note: I laughed a lot -- but I also cried at the end of every sub-story, especially the first two had me bawling my eyes out.
Some people have mentioned that it's obviously low-budget -- but I think if the story and the story-telling is good, things like this don't matter much. And the story-telling is excellent!
First, the series is set both in our present and in the past (or maybe dreams) -- and they are beautifully interwoven. I loved how smoothly the transitions between both worlds are done.
There are five sub-plots (or rather short stories) about friendship, familial love, romantic love -- about loss, letting go, sacrifice, and healing. These are cleverly tied together by the "Demon Bar", a place where demons meet, and destiny brings customers to ... well, to what? To dream? To tell their story? To relive past lives?
What is real, what is a dream -- this is never quite clear; and in the moment when the sommelier (the demon hunter?) maybe grasps an important part of the truth -- the series is over.
I wouldn't even be sad if there's never going to be a second season, this ending is kind of perfect.
Throughout all of these sub-stories, we also follow the friendship (and it can't be more, it's from China) of the demon hunter and the dragon. The former gets some backstory and also some character development; the latter unfortunately not. Maybe he is supposed to remain shrouded in mystery.
On a personal note: I laughed a lot -- but I also cried at the end of every sub-story, especially the first two had me bawling my eyes out.
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